Seblaine Sunday Challenges
by blainedarling
Summary: A collection of fills for the Seblaine Sunday Challenges, set on tumblr! (Ratings and themes vary.)
1. In the Absence of Something Sweet

Prompt#1: Ice cream sundae

* * *

When _Sweet Tooth_ first opened in Westerville, Blaine was thirteen years old. He wasn't sure exactly what it was that drove him to visit there that Sunday, just two days after its grand opening. His older brother, Cooper, had mentioned it over dinner the night before and Blaine had already finished his homework for the weekend. As always. Sundays, for Blaine, were usually spent walking through the town centre until he decided he'd been out long enough to satisfy his mother. She worried about him, worried that he spent too much time alone. Maybe that was why he went, then. Because the colourful doors and the smile of the elderly woman inside, who owned the ice cream parlor, were the only kind of company to be found.

Blaine didn't really have many friends. In truth, he had one - and Cooper spent more and more time with friends of his own age, by that time. He didn't mind, much. He hadn't had a best friend since elementary; a blonde girl named Sally, with a toothy grin and hair that stuck out at all angles. But Sally's family had moved to New York before middle school and Blaine had never seen her again. He didn't really fit in with the boys at his middle school, and though the girls were kind to start with, they too joined in with the name calling and the sly kicks when the questions begun as to why he'd rather hang out with them in the first place.

Sometimes, Blaine dreamed about high school. Dreamed about the friends he might make, and the boys he might meet. In his fantasy future, there were boys like him. Boys who wanted to hold hands with other boys, even to kiss other boys, and not be called names because of it.

* * *

In the two years since his first visit to _Sweet Tooth, _he'd become a Sunday regular. He'd started at Westerville High, and found it to be just the same as middle school, if not worse. Cooper had left home, and perhaps Blaine's only real friend anymore was old Millie, who still gave him that same smile when he appeared through the door on Sunday afternoons for his sundae.

Occasionally, there would be other boys there, a group of them, who looked to be about his age. They sat in a circle in one of the booths, laughing and cheering, praising Millie when she brought over their sundaes. She would beam, handing out candy to the group. Blaine never got candy, but sometimes she baked him brownies to last him over the week.

The boys never said anything mean to Blaine. Sometimes, they would smile, or even give a small wave of recognition. He wondered if maybe they wanted him to go over, but he doubted it. So, he kept to his corner, simply watching. He didn't even ask Millie about them; not until the day that he watched the tall blond one and the shorter dark haired one join hands over the table, without a word of protest from their other friends.

She told him they went to a different school, a private one, that was quite nearby. Dalton Academy, she told him. It was a boarding school, full of kids whose parents wanted them to get a boost towards the good colleges, or just wanted to get them out from under their roof. Blaine didn't want to pry, so he looked it up himself, in the local library - he knew that his parents sometimes checked what he searched on the internet, and he didn't want to have to explain.

The same words came up over and over when he searched it one afternoon. _Zero tolerance bullying policy._ A school where violence, even in the form of a mean word, was likely to get you kicked out. A school that accepted and encouraged difference; for people to be themselves and not just a clone of one another.

"I'd like to go there," Blaine murmured to himself, staring at the photo he'd printed out of the beautiful building that the school was housed in; before tucking it under his mattress for safe keeping.

* * *

That Sunday, the boys from Dalton weren't there - instead, someone he'd never seen before, in the parlor or otherwise. He was dizzyingly tall, long limbs encased in simple but expensive looking clothes. His hair was swept back from his forehead, a pair of thick, round, black glasses perched on his nose. He dropped down into the booth across from Blaine's, his bright eyes fixed on him in obvious interest. Millie came flying out, laughing happily as she went to ruffle his hair, earning herself a hiss of protest from the boy, which she ignored.

* * *

And so, it continued. Every Sunday, Blaine would be halfway through his sundae, when the boy would appear. It seemed as though he never ordered anything; he just had to sit down and Millie would be over within seconds. Clearly, she knew the boy, somehow. Blaine could have asked, he supposed, but he didn't dare.

Because there was something about the boy that was beautiful in a way that seemed untouchable. Like to learn more, let alone to speak to him, would ruin the illusion of the mysterious stranger who would sit before him with a half smile, and a curious gaze. For his part, the boy seemed content to leave him be. If he did, indeed, have any interest in speaking to Blaine, he seemed satisfied to wait for him to make the first move.

That was until Blaine appeared in the parlor with bruises on his arms. He'd been hiding them from his parents all week, piling on sweaters and claiming to them that the October chill was getting to him. But, as always, the parlor was stiflingly hot and Blaine pulled off his layers without thinking twice of it.

"What happened?"  
Blaine blinked a few times - the boy's voice was deep, with an intonation that hinted at an underlying accent that wasn't entirely local.  
"Are you alright?"  
"I'm fine," Blaine replied finally, gripping the side of the sundae glass tightly. "It was an accident."

The boy frowned, laying down his spoon and wiping the back of his mouth with his hand before moving to sit in Blaine's booth. "They look like finger marks," the boy murmured thoughtfully, staring down at the indentations.  
Blaine grabbed his sweater, quickly pulling it on and tugging the sleeves down so they covered his arms completely. "It was an accident," he repeated, not quite meeting his gaze.  
The other boy huffed quietly, before shrugging. "If you say so," he said, before getting up and leaving the parlor.

Blaine watched curiously as Millie rushed outside after him: he couldn't hear what she was saying to the boy, but she looked angry. The boy's expression was surly, although he at least had the decency to look ashamed as she yelled at him. Perhaps he had forgotten to pay, Blaine thought to himself - not that he'd ever seen him do so, but then again he often left before him.

When Millie came back in, she was over at Blaine's side in a moment. "I'm sorry, Blaine. Sebastian is far too curious for his own good."  
Blaine shook his head to indicate that it was alright. "Who is he?" he asked, unable to help himself any longer.  
"I thought you knew," Millie frowned, before chuckling softly. "He's my grandson."

* * *

Blaine learned a lot about Sebastian that afternoon. It seemed unfair, in some ways - that he knew so much about Sebastian, when the other knew so little about him. Unless Millie had told him more than she let on, which, he supposed, was entirely possible.

Sebastian Smythe had lived with his grandmother in Columbus until he was ten years old - at which time he had moved to Paris to rejoin his parents, as they deemed him to be of a "respectable age". Come fifteen and Sebastian had been classified as "out of control" by his mother and father, and had been sent back to Ohio - this time to Westerville, where Millie had recently moved.

"Out of control was a little extreme," Millie confided to Blaine as she forced another brownie onto him. "He's always been mature for his age, so his hanging around with an older group was inevitable. I can understand them not wanting him drinking and such yet, but I'm not sure boarding school was the appropriate reaction."

"Then again, I got my grandson back," she smiled. "And for that, I am nothing but grateful."

* * *

The next Sunday, Blaine wasn't sure how to act around Sebastian. As if nothing had changed, as if he were just the nameless boy who had spoken to him once? Or honestly, knowing what he did about the other boy? In the end, Sebastian made the choice for him.  
"Grandmama is an awful gossip, isn't she?" he grinned, dropping down into Blaine's booth uninvited, that time bringing his whole sundae with him.  
Blaine shrugged, heat creeping up to his cheeks. It wasn't exactly often that cute boys in cute glasses started speaking to him, after all. "I think she's lovely."

Sebastian hummed, smirking as he sucked on a spoonful of ice cream thoughtfully. "Well, anything that she hasn't told you that you want to know?"  
Blaine hesitated before asking: "Is it Dalton? The school that you go to?" The other boy nodded, so Blaine continued. "What's it like?"  
"It's pretty good, I guess. Classes are dull, but that's the same anywhere. I'm on the lacrosse team, though, and that's fun. We might win state this year," Sebastian added proudly. "And there's the Warblers - they're an _a cappella_ choir, which sounds totally lame, but I promise it's not."

"You sing?" Blaine asked softly, his jaw a little slack. Dalton sounded even more incredible than he could ever have imagined.  
Sebastian nodded, shooting him a wink. "Maybe I'll show you sometime." He slurped up a bit of brownie from the bottom of the glasses, mumbling through the mouthful. "What about you? Grandmama wouldn't tell me anything except your name and what school you go to. Which seems totally hypocritical to me."

Blaine opened his mouth, and closed it again. He could tell him the truth - that he went to classes, and did little else. That he spent most evenings sitting on his window ledge with a book and a mug of herbal tea, watching the kids from his grade walk down the street in groups, laughing and messing around, wishing he could join in. Or, he could elaborate.

"Oh, I'm in heaps of clubs. I sing and I play piano, and I have heaps of friends. And there's this one boy, and I think he wants to be my boyfriend," he detailed quickly, letting the perfect version of his life spill out.  
Sebastian's eyebrows shot up, his lips quirking at the corners. "You're gay?"  
"I meant, I would be someone's, uh-"

"Blaine," Sebastian silenced his panic at his mistake, tentatively laying a hand on his. "It's okay. I am too."  
"Oh," Blaine replied quietly, looking down at their hands on the table. If he moved his wrist just so, he would be able to lace their fingers together. "I should go" he mumbled instead, hastily getting up from the booth.  
"But you haven't finished your sundae," Sebastian frowned, placing his hand back in his lap.  
Blaine just shrugged, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste to get to the door. "You finish it! I'll see you- later. Or, I don't know, around."

Millie walked out of the kitchen to see Blaine running out of the door, and instantly cast an accusative glare in Sebastian's direction.  
"I didn't do anything," Sebastian cried, holding his hands up in mercy. "I swear!"

* * *

The next week, Blaine probably shouldn't have gone to the parlor at all. His mother had been reluctant to let him leave the house, given what had happened, but after enduring his protests of feeling fine and going crazy being stuck in the house, she eventually relented.

Which was how he ended up walking through the glass doors, hitching his plastered arm up in the sling as he went. He spotted Sebastian out of the corner of his eye as he sat down, but chose to ignore him, rather making over to his usual booth to wait for Millie.

Blaine didn't so much see as feel Sebastian sliding into the booth beside him. He kept his gaze averted to his lap, focusing on the irritating itchy sensation coming from his arm, as opposed to how the very scent coming from Sebastian was making something twist warmly in his chest.

When Sebastian said nothing, Blaine finally looked up. "You forgot your glasses today," he commented, noting how much brighter the other boy's eyes seemed without them. He hadn't thought that could even be possible.  
Sebastian nodded, his eyes flickering between Blaine's arm and his face. "I couldn't find them this morning, so I had to put in my contacts again. I only usually wear my glasses on Sundays, anyway."

Blaine allowed himself a moment to consider what Sebastian had just said. That he might be one of the few people to get to see him like that, in his natural Sunday state, hitching his glasses up as they repeatedly slid down his nose.

"Blaine, who did this to you?" Sebastian asked bluntly, clearly unable to stop himself from doing so any longer.  
"No one," he replied sharply, cheeks colouring. "I fell down some stairs at school."  
"You fell?" Sebastian echoed, unconvinced. "Or someone pushed you?"

The shorter boy blinked rapidly, before shaking his head. "I said I _fell."  
_"I know what you said," Sebastian replied coolly. "Doesn't mean that I believe you."  
Blaine stammered, balling his hands into fists in his lap. "Just-just leave me alone! You don't know anything about me!"

Sebastian barely even batted an eye at Blaine's little outburst, simply inching a little closer to him in the booth. "All of what you told me last week? About your friends, and everything?" He hesitated only a moment before continuing. "None of that was true, was it?"

Blaine folded his arms across his chest as best as he could with his arm as it was, shrinking back against the plush leather seat. "Why are you doing this?" he asked quietly, swallowing roughly.  
"Because I'd like to get to know you. The _real_ you, not the person you think you should be."

The other didn't reply, simply staring back at him as he worried at his lower lip.  
Sebastian, in turn, decided to take a chance. He slipped ever closer, bringing his hand up to rest on Blaine's cheek lightly. "Has anyone ever kissed you, Blaine?"  
Blaine's eye widened, his cheek heating rapidly under Sebastian's touch. "No," he murmured, gaze flickering briefly to the other's lips. "Never."

Sebastian inched forward until his breath was hot against Blaine's; his free hand moving to mimic the same position on his other cheek. "May I?" he whispered, the words tickling, almost.  
"Yes," Blaine breathed, eyes already half closed. "Please."

His breath hitched noticeably as Sebastian's pressed in to lay his lips against Blaine's gently. It lasted only a second or two, but as soon as it was over, Sebastian was pushing forward for another, and another, until they were both a little breathless.

"Now," Sebastian smiled, noting with some pride that Blaine looked significantly more comfortable and relaxed than he had some moments previously. "They say chocolate can mend a broken heart, so let's get you some ice cream and see what it can do for your arm."


	2. Under Your Skin

**A/N:** Prompt #2, Dalton blazer. A 3x05 rewrite.

* * *

The Dalton blazer was flattering, in most cases, but never had Blaine seen it worn quite like that. He made it seem so effortless, a second skin more than a jacket. It moved as he moved, never losing that definition across his broad shoulders, and the taper down to his waist.

Blaine knew that he should have been paying attention to all of the boys, all of his _friends_ - the number was impeccable, after all. The result of continuous hard work and rigorous rehearsals, no doubt. But more than that, it was fun; the same high energy that the Warblers always managed to give off.

But he couldn't. His gaze, and full attention, was fixed solely on the one boy in the group whom he didn't even know. On his bright eyes and seductive grin; on his long fingers and even longer legs.

Sebastian suited him well, Blaine decided, once they had properly been introduced. The name, combined with the way it all but oozed off of his tongue, was not helping Blaine to regain focus on anything else around him. Not even the buzzing of his phone in his pocket, that was no doubt his boyfriend calling to check up on him. Again.

The way Sebastian was looking at him should have made him disgusted, nauseous even. It was so blatantly predatory, that Blaine felt as if he were laid out, bare and naked in front of him, his for the taking. Blaine tried desperately not to linger on that comparison too long.

* * *

Their footsteps echoed along the corridor as they walked in the general direction of the main entrance. Sebastian was headed to lacrosse practice, but had insisted on seeing Blaine to his car first, clearly unconcerned about any consequences that could come from his being late.

Blaine was only half listening as he spoke of his old school in Paris, that apparently had no uniform and even fewer rules. Most of his attention, if he was being honest, was focused on trying to keep an acceptable distance between himself and the boy who was practically a stranger to him. Sebastian was making that rather difficult, he noted, as the backs of their hands brushed for the hundredth time.

"I will admit though, I quite like the blazer," Sebastian shrugged, smoothing his hands over the lapels with a certain amount of pride.  
Blaine knew that pride - he recognised it. It was the pride of every Dalton boy, because the symbol marked acceptance and being a part of something. It was a funny kind of thing, how much a few pieces of material and fancy ribbon could do.

"It looks good on you," Blaine blurted out, without really having meant to. If there was one thing he had learned about Sebastian, it was that he really wasn't in need of an ego boost.  
"I know," Sebastian purred, shooting him a wink. "But you know what I think?"

Before Blaine could reply, Sebastian had a firm hand on his elbow, dragging him to a halt in the middle of the hallway.  
"I think," Sebastian continued, ducking down so they were at eye level with one another. "It would look even better on you. And best of all if it was the only thing you were wearing."

Blaine flushed, the tone of his cheeks only deepening as Sebastian's gaze trailed to his lips. " I should go," he squeaked, jumping back a step.  
"Why?" Sebastian grinned, undeterred by Blaine's reaction. "Let's say I skip practice, and we make that vision a reality. In my room. Now."  
"I-I have a boyfriend," Blaine stammered, cursing inwardly as his back hit the wall that Sebastian was edging him against.

Sebastian chuckled, the sound deep enough to send a shiver down Blaine's spine. "That won't stop me - and I doubt it'll stop you from thinking about me when you're alone in your bed tonight, either."

With one last appreciative glance, Sebastian turned on his heel and disappeared around the corner in a few large strides. Blaine let out a breath as he slumped against the wall, his heart beat going a mile a minute.

Sebastian Smythe was the _devil._

* * *

Blaine really did try not to think about Sebastian; truly. Over dinner, as his parents asked politely after how things were going with the school musical; as he spoke on the phone with Kurt in the evening, simultaneously putting the final touches to his English essay.

But the thought remained. He went over every word that had been shared between them, every glance, every touch. But most of all, the thought that remained, was the one planted there by Sebastian himself - albeit, inadvertently.

What would Sebastian look like in just his Dalton blazer and _nothing else?_

It was worse when he got into bed that night, the darkness and quiet overtaking his senses as he slipped under the covers. He was almost ashamed for falling prey to such a boy; ashamed that he was doing exactly what Sebastian had known he would, boyfriend or no boyfriend.

With a sigh, Blaine slipped his hand under the waistband of his sleep pants, cupping his half hard cock through his underwear. He teased himself slowly into hardness through the thin material, Sebastian's words echoing through his head in that smoldering voice of his.

_Sebastian, on the bed, in nothing but his blazer._

Blaine's hand moved further, underneath his briefs, to circle his cock fully.

_His legs spread wide, cock hard between them._

He started fucking into his fist roughly. He couldn't afford to draw it out, he had to just get it over with, so he could then forget that any of it had happened at all.

_His lips turned up in a wide smirk, pupils blown as he waited for Blaine to touch him._

He bit down on his lip to stop a moan from escaping, eyes squeezed tightly shut, keeping the image locked in his mind.

_His wrists tied to the headboard - there was no way that blazer was coming off._

He lifted his free, shaking hand to his lips, sucking one finger into his mouth clumsily. He arched off the bed enough to reach behind himself, teasing in just a little.

_Sebastian's come, streaking his chest and the red piping. Chest flushed, hair mussed, eyes closed, mouth open._

Blaine turned his face into the pillow to muffle a cry as he came over his fist in spurts. He lay like that for some time, just catching his breath, ignoring the mess that was drying over his hand.

It was the buzz of his phone on the nightstand that pulled him from his daze; enough to make him clean himself off using the box of tissues in the top drawer before reaching for it. The number was unfamiliar to him, nor someone he had as a contact, but Blaine still knew immediately who it was.

_Sweet dreams, killer._


	3. I'll Cover You, Friend

**A/N:** Prompt #3, roadtrip. Kiddie!seblaine *u*

* * *

Blaine's hands wrapped tighter around one of the ornate rungs of the staircase, his face pressed between them as he listened to the sounds of his parents shouts echoing across the kitchen. Something slammed against the wood and Blaine flinched, biting down on his lower lip to keep from crying out loud himself.

He couldn't stay there any longer. He couldn't spend another evening listening to his parents talking to each other like that. It had been that way for almost a year now; but it had only gotten worse with Cooper started spending most of his nights out with his friends.

Blaine's mismatched sock-covered feet padded down the stairs quietly, before he ducked into the alcove at the bottom, grabbing the phone along the way. He tugged the cord as far as he could and scrambled into the closet where the winter clothes were kept - should anyone walk past, they would just see the black wire stretched across the hall.

He dialed the familiar number of his best friend's house, scrubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand as he waited.  
_"Hello?"  
_Blaine snuffled, his voice a little hoarse. "Mrs Smythe? Is Sebastian there?"  
_"Blaine! Honey, are you okay? You sound upset."  
_"I just really want to speak to Bastian, please," Blaine whispered, clutching the phone to his ear tightly, the cord straining under the wooden door.

It was dark in the closet, save for the strip of light filtering in through under the door. Blaine liked it in there; and he often used it as a hideaway spot, not just for calling his best friend. He wasn't really supposed to use the phone without permission, but he knew better than to interrupt his parents during one of their _disagreements._

Blaine heard Sebastian's mom calling for him in the background, and the sound of the other boy's feet thumping down the stairs, becoming clearer as he neared the phone.  
_"Blaine?"  
_He sighed, tucking his knees up to his chest. "I'm sorry for calling again."  
_"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault, B."  
_"I just wish I could get away from here."

There was a pause: Blaine could just hear Sebastian humming lightly under his breath in obvious thought.  
_"Meet me outside, at midnight."  
_"I'm not sure if I'll be allowed-"  
Sebastian chuckled down the line - Blaine could easily picture his devious grin. _"Sneak out, silly. And bring some of those mini muffins your mom always buys."_

* * *

At midnight on the dot, Blaine was waiting outside of his house. He perched on the curb, backpack at his feet. He hadn't been sure what else to bring, save for the muffins Sebastian had requested, so at the last minute, he had added: a few juice boxes; his favourite plush toy, a dragon named Charles; and his red rain boots. As it was, he was dressed just in his Superman pajamas, with a woolen sweater thrown over the top, and fluffy slippers on his feet. Blaine wasn't very good at dressing for surprises.

He heard Sebastian approaching before he saw him, the trundle of wheels and feet upon the concrete road, and as he came closer, the puff of his breath. Sebastian's tongue was stuck out in concentration, eyebrows furrowed as he slowed to a halt in front of the Anderson household.

"Your ride," Sebastian grinned, flicking his head back dramatically.  
It was the miniature toy car that Sebastian shared with his younger sister - something that had been the source of many an argument over the years. It had space for two and a hole in the bottom for Sebastian's feet, which powered the engine, as it were.

"Where are we going?" Blaine asked, although he was already picking up his backpack and moving to sit beside Sebastian in the tiny car.  
Sebastian shrugged. "Wherever the road takes us." He paused, as if he were planning to add something, before turning to Blaine seriously. "Did you bring the muffins?"  
Blaine rummaged through his backpack, bringing out the packet and offering it to his friend.

Sebastian whooped and shoved a muffin into his mouth whole as Blaine shushed him and glanced towards his dark house in concern. And then, they were off; bumping and scraping down the road as fast as Sebastian's legs could carry them, in no particular direction at all.

* * *

In the end, they made it as far as the park, about five blocks from Blaine's house. They parked up by the large willow which overhung the lake; Sebastian red faced and a little out of breath. Not that he'd admit it.

"Here, drink," Blaine urged, pressing an orange juice box into Sebastian's hand firmly.  
"I'm fine," Sebastian protested, but accepted the drink anyway, sucking it down eagerly. "You worry about me too much," he mumbled through the straw he was chewing on absentmindedly.  
"You're the one who came and rescued me in the middle of the night," Blaine murmured, moving to sit down next to the lake.

Sebastian smiled proudly, moving to sit down next to him. "Because you were upset, so it was my job to cheer you up." He ruffled Blaine's curls playfully, in exactly that way he knew that he hated.  
Blaine grumbled under his breath but just nudged Sebastian's side in retaliation.  
"And I know you'd do the same thing for me."  
Blaine looked up at him, smiling brightly. "Of course I would. I love you, Bastian."

At the innocent age of five, Blaine knew nothing of the significance of his words. Love, to him, was what he shared with his family, and sometimes it felt as if Sebastian were his closest family member of all. It would be another sixteen years before he'd realise just how important Sebastian Smythe was to him. But that was a story for another time.

The boys soon slumped to laying beneath the tree, tucked up under Sebastian's jacket as neither had thought to bring a blanket. Blaine had his head pressed against Sebastian's chest, a makeshift pillow of sorts, hands curled into his shirt, eyelids fluttering as he drifted into a deep sleep.

Only then did Sebastian return the sentiment. He was more wary of love; it had never been such an acknowledged thing as in the Anderson household. Although, in recent months, it was possible he heard more of it than Blaine did, with his parents' constant fighting.

But Blaine was different. Sebastian was the boy with the bruises on his knees and an aptitude for pushing people off the climbing frame when he felt like being alone up there. With Blaine, he wanted to be better, he wanted to be good. He wanted to help, not hinder.

Although that snotty girl with the pigtails from down the road was asking for it, if you asked him.

* * *

The Andersons and Smythes found their sons early the next morning, following a stressful hour of frantic phone calls. They hadn't called the police by the time they discovered where their boys had run off to: Mrs Smythe's report that Sebastian, too, was gone, and with the toy car of all things, had led them to believe they couldn't be far.

They paused, sharing small smiles as they looked down upon their sleeping children, curled up together in the cool morning air. Blaine stirred slowly as his father lifted him into his arms, instantly missing the familiarity of Sebastian beside him.  
"Next time you want a sleepover, kiddo," his father chuckled, brushing his messy hair from his eyes. "Maybe you can have it in the house."

"Mr Anderson?" Sebastian murmured sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he stood up to look at him. "It was my idea. It's not Blaine's fault."  
He exchanged a look with his wife; Sebastian's parents smiling a little sympathetically. "It's not your fault either, dear," Mrs Anderson murmured, pressing a hand to the top of Sebastian's head lightly. "I'm just glad he has you."

"Dad?" Blaine asked, still half asleep against his father's chest. "Can Sebastian come sleep over? At the house?"  
"Well, it is the weekend," he consented, waiting for a nod of approval from the Smythes before hoisting Sebastian up with his spare arm.

By the time they returned home, the two boys were both fast asleep once more, sprawled across the back seat of the car, fingers laced together tightly.


	4. (Not) Getting Engaged Today

**Prompt #4:** Proposal

* * *

Blaine hadn't been snooping, per say. In all honesty, he had meant to stay curled up in Sebastian's bed and wait for his boyfriend to return with breakfast, as he'd said he would. It wasn't his fault that his birthday happened to be in just one week and he was more than a little curious about what Sebastian might have picked out for him.

Amid a pile of his boyfriend's clothes, shoes and general junk, sat nearly-twenty-three year old Blaine Anderson: untamed curls sticking up in all directions; an oversized slogan shirt falling loosely over his compact frame and hiding his navy blue underwear tucked underneath.

He let out a groan of frustration, stuffing the things back into the closet somewhat haphazardly - as they had been when he'd opened the doors in the first place. He couldn't seem to find even a trace of ribbon or wrapping paper, let alone a gift for him.

Blaine scanned the bedroom, nibbling his lower lip in thought. Maybe the closet was too easy. After all, Sebastian knew him fairly well, knew that he might just bump into the rickety wardrobe doors and decide to have a peek.

His gaze landed on the drawers of the nightstand. Four in total, of equal sizes, all sporting an attractively shiny wooden handle. He, himself, was only familiar with the contents of the top one, given that it was where Sebastian kept the supplies that they used between them on a fairly regular basis. As for the rest, however..

Blaine scrambled across the room, acutely aware that Sebastian could potentially return at any moment, and tugged open the second drawer down. A few ticket stubs from the movie theatre, several loose napkins with the logos of various coffee shops and a sticky looking packet of throat lozenges.

So, drawer number two was a bust. But that didn't deter the dark haired man, as he dived for the next one down. Two more chances for success, right?

He shifted through piles of receipts that seemed to date back as far as the previous year, pausing as his fingers landed on smooth velvet. He closed them around a small, box-shaped item, tugging it out for closer inspection.

The deep green velvet shone up at him from the palm of Blaine's hand, the light catching on the gold of the clasp. A small box, typically used - at least, to Blaine's knowledge - for the storing of rings.

He barely had a second to process before he heard the sound of a key in the front door lock and, jolting, he sent the box tumbling back into the bottom of the drawer where he'd found it.

Blaine had just made it back into the bed when Sebastian walked through the door, balancing two coffees and a bag of pastries. Without thinking twice, Blaine went leaping towards him, nearly knocking the food from his hands as he wrapped his arms tightly around him.

"Miss me?" Sebastian teased, catching his boyfriend easily with a light chuckle.  
Blaine just hummed in response, tucking his face into the crook of Sebastian's neck. They were_ totally_ getting engaged.

* * *

"Wait, wait," Kurt interrupted him mid-sentence, waving his hands to try and stop Blaine's soliloquy from getting any longer. "So, Sebastian said he was going to propose?"  
Blaine sighed in exasperation, setting down his coffee mug with a thump. "No, but I _told _you, I found the ring!"

Ever since he'd left Sebastian's place earlier that day, he'd practically been bouncing from the walls. He spent the subway ride back to the apartment, that he shared with his best friend, Kurt, examining his hands carefully, wondering what the ring itself actually looked like. When he'd bounded through the front door, shrieking and grinning like a madman, Kurt had accused him of taking something from the dealer who liked to hang around the station down the street.

Kurt let out a breath, looking a little shell-shocked. "That's a big move, for anyone. But especially for Sebastian. I mean, it's not even two years yet."  
Blaine shrugged, his smile not faltering for a second as he took a sip of his coffee. "When it's right, it's right, I guess," he smiled dreamily.

The other man chose to ignore that comment, rather humming thoughtfully. "He's taking you to dinner on your birthday, right?" Blaine nodded in agreement, although his eyes were still a little glazed over in an obvious daydream. Kurt clapped his hands together and grinned. "Well, let's assume he'll do it then. Now, what are you going to wear?"

* * *

By the time Blaine and Sebastian made it to the restaurant that evening of the next week, the birthday boy's stomach was in knots. _God only knows how he's feeling,_ Blaine thought to himself, casting his boyfriend a reassuring smile.

The waiter seated them in a booth tucked into the corner of the restaurant - Blaine's favourite Italian in the city. It was something Blaine had always loved about Sebastian: how much attention he paid to the little details like that.

"So," Sebastian started, once they'd ordered, tucking their ankles together underneath the table. "I was going to wait to give you your present with dessert, but I know how impatient you get." He winked across at him, reaching into the pocket of his blazer, that was tossed over the back of the chair.

Blaine's cheeks flushed, but the smile that had already been on his face was widening, heart rate increasing steadily. Sebastian made no move as if to get down onto one knee - well, since when had his boyfriend been into tradition?

"It's probably super corny, but- well, I hope you like it," Sebastian shrugged, looking almost bashful. It wasn't like Sebastian to get nervous, and it was a side Blaine rarely saw. He supposed it was pretty justified on a night like that, though.

Without another word, he slid the box across the table towards Blaine - the green velvet glinting up at him just as it had the week previously, when he'd first discovered it.  
"I'm sure I'll love it," Blaine chuckled, looking at him knowingly before reaching out for the box.

He was all ready, as he opened the box, to begin sprouting every possible variation on the word 'yes' that he could, when something stopped him. Because inside the box wasn't a ring, of any description. No gold, silver or platinum band; none of the designs he'd envisioned over the past week.

It was a metal bottle top, from a Mexican beer. Blaine recognised it, of course. Blaine, Sebastian and a large group of their friends had taken a road trip to Mexico City almost two years previously. Somehow, their group had got split up until it was just Blaine and Sebastian sitting on the side of a quiet road, splitting the last beer the rickety bar behind them had had left. Sebastian had kissed Blaine for the first time on that curb and it had been as if the world had shifted forty five degrees. Blaine didn't _want_ it to shift back - he _wanted_ to marry Sebastian.

On closer inspection, Blaine noted that the bottle top was attached to a pin.  
"Like from your favourite movie," Sebastian prompted, referring to the Pixar classic, _Up_. "But our version of grape soda."

Blaine nodded, smiling tightly as his fingers tightened around the bottle cap. It was a thoughtful and sweet gesture, and under normal circumstances, Blaine would love it. He _did_ love it. But it wasn't exactly the declaration of forever that he'd been building himself up for during the long week.

He only registered that he was crying at all when the first drop hit the tablecloth, leaving a spot as it sank into the thick material.  
"Blaine?" Sebastian asked quietly, reaching across the table for his hand.  
The other man let him take it, but didn't look up, the serrated edges of the cap starting to dig painfully into his fingers.

"If you don't like it, I could get you something else? I mean, I was going to blow you tonight too but I guess that's not really-"  
Blaine cut him off with a shake of his head, his voice thick as he glanced up at him briefly. "No, really, I love it. It's so sweet, Bas."

"But you're upset," Sebastian mumbled, gaze flickering between the box and Blaine's red rimmed eyes. "I don't know what I did wrong but I'm really sorry, B."  
"It's not you," Blaine replied quickly, snatching his hand back and dropping the box to wipe at his eyes firmly. "I'm just going to run to the restroom, okay?"

Blaine stood to leave the table, but Sebastian grabbed his wrist firmly, tugging him round to face him as he rose too.  
"Please," Sebastian whispered, his other hand going to Blaine's cheek. "Please, tell me what's wrong."  
"I promise, it's not your fault," Blaine assured him, leaning into Sebastian's touch instinctively. "I made a mistake, that's all."

Sebastian's face fell, his eyes flickering uncertainly. "A mistake? About me?"  
"No!" Blaine replied quickly, moving his hand to lace his fingers with Sebastian's. "Not at all." He took a deep breath, wetting his lips slowly. "I may have found the box last week. And I thought, well. I thought you were going to propose."

His boyfriend's eyebrows shot up, mouth shaping into a small "oh." He pulled back a little, swallowing roughly. "Blaine, we don't even live together. Why would I propose?"  
Blaine blinked rapidly, a fresh wave of tears stinging at the backs of his eyes. "You're right. Why would you?" He pulled away sharply, ignoring Sebastian's cries of protest as he stumbled towards the bathroom.

* * *

He considered just leaving. But, for whatever reason, he decided to make his way back to the table after cooling the red of his eyes, sitting down in silence. Sebastian was staring at his lap intently, the tips of his ears a flushed pink.

"Maybe we should just forget that any of this happened," Blaine murmured quietly, fiddling with his napkin absentmindedly.  
Sebastian shook his head, looking up at him. "I'm sorry, Blaine. I didn't mean it like _that_, I just think it's a bit soon for us. The marriage thing, anyway."

Blaine opened his mouth to reply, but Sebastian cut him off with a quick, hopeful glance, reaching for something else from his pocket. "But it did get me thinking," Sebastian continued, fiddling with the something out of Blaine's sight. "And I don't want to ruin your birthday, so.."

Sebastian slid the key across the table, nudging it against Blaine's fingers gently.  
"Are you sure?" Blaine whispered, tracing the edge of the metal, warm from Sebastian's pocket.  
His boyfriend nodded, leaning halfway across the table before he paused. "On one condition?"

Blaine nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as Sebastian reached for the beer cap and carefully pinned it to the pocket of his shirt. "I love you," Blaine murmured, meeting Sebastian's lips before he had a chance to reply.  
"I love you, too. And thank you, Blaine."

The dark haired man drew back a little, looking at him curiously. "What for?"  
Sebastian dropped back to his chair, chuckling softly. "For inadvertently teaching me to hide gifts for you better."


	5. It's Me, It's You

**Prompt #5: **Body swap

* * *

Blaine knew something was wrong from the moment he first jolted out of his dream - and it wasn't just because his arm was numb where he'd been sleeping on it. It was too hot in the room, the usual flutter of fresh air not hitting him as it usually did. It seemed dark too; although, granted, he hadn't yet brought himself to open his eyes. He was sure it was morning, and yet he couldn't feel the warmth of sunlight behind his eyelids; as normally filtered through the thin curtains onto his bed.

He slowly stretched his arms above his head, jerking as his fists connected with the wall far sooner than they should have. He pushed himself up a little, cracking one eye open as he did so.

Where was his phone? He always left it on the nightstand. Instead, there lay his roommate's watch and a half full glass of water, that had, no doubt, gone stale overnight. Sebastian must have been rearranging things before he went to bed, just to mess with him. It wouldn't be the first time.

Blaine tugged himself up into a sitting position, frowning at how cool the air felt against his chest and legs, all of a sudden. Was it possible to take pajamas off while sleep walking? Not that Blaine had ever slept walked - as far as he knew.

He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes briefly before opening them fully, yelping as his vision cleared to take in the large pair of hands in front of him. Long, elegant fingers, rough palms, no callouses on the pads of his thumbs. He knew his own hands and those - those were _not_ them.

Blaine jerked as he stood up, very aware that he had a significantly higher vantage point than normal. He turned to the mirror, gaze drifting slowly over and up long, thin legs, strong thighs, a torso decorated with freckles; up and up to a pair of strikingly green eyes.

He chuckled to himself softly, shaking his head. _Dreams are weird,_ he thought vaguely as he turned around and crashed face forward back into the bed.

Clearly, the noise awoke his roommate, who snuffled as he turned onto his side, kicking the covers back.  
"Why the fuck is it so hot in here?" he grumbled, scrabbling at the material that was covering the length of his body.

Blaine lifted his head dopily, eyes widening as he watched _himself_ rise from the bed, curls wild, pajamas askew. Sebastian paused, opening his eyes enough to frown down at his attire, picking at it in disdain. He looked up to comment, expression of confusion turning to one of admiration as he took in his own body sprawled out across the other bed.

"I mean, I knew I looked good, but.." he trailed off, blatantly checking Blaine - or, rather, _himself_ - out with a whistle of appreciation.  
Blaine shook his head, hugging the pillow close to his head. "S'kay. I've already decided it's a dream."

"You think?" Sebastian asked; the sound still startling Blaine a little, to hear what he knew as his own voice bouncing back to him. "Seems pretty real to me."  
When Blaine next looked up, it was to find Sebastian with one hand down his underwear, clearly having decided the best way to assess the reality of the situation.

Blaine stumbled out of the bed, giving Sebastian a shove. "Get your hands off my dick," he growled, his frown twisting into a grin when he realised he was taller than the other boy. That he could get used to.

Sebastian just shook his head, skipping past Blaine to run into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. The click of the lock followed shortly afterwards, Blaine tripping over his own feet to get to the door, pounding on it relentlessly.

"Don't even think about it," he yelled, wincing as his head came into the contact with the corner of the wardrobe. So, maybe being tall wasn't so great, after all.  
Sebastian just cackled from inside the bathroom, where he was busily shedding layers. "Why the hell do you wear so many clothes to bed, Anderson?"

"Sebastian!" Blaine hissed, rattling the door handle uselessly. "I swear to god, if you even think about getting me off- I mean, yourself- I mean-" He trailed off in confusion, leaning his head against the doorframe. "Just, don't!"

"Too late," Sebastian murmured from inside, too quietly for Blaine to hear, as he wrapped one hand around his cock. "Good size, B. I'm impressed," he called out, to another grunt of frustration from his friend.

There was a pause as Blaine glanced around the bedroom, trying to think of an appropriately mean retaliation. Obviously, if he were to do the same, it would just be giving Sebastian exactly what he wanted.

He grinned as his eyes fell on Sebastian's shaver, abandoned on the desk in a rush the morning before. He reached over to pick it up, pressing the power on button so that the buzz of the motor sound would reach even the other boy.

"Get your hands off my dick," Blaine smirked through the door. "Or, I'll shave your head."  
"No!" Sebastian yelled, hurrying to his feet and flying towards the lock on the door. He heard Blaine curse, and made it out just in time to see a lock of his perfect chestnut hair fall to the floor.

"That was an accident," Blaine mumbled, flushing up to the tips of his ears. "I wasn't actually going to do it."  
Sebastian wailed, grabbing Blaine's head roughly and tugging it down to his level so he could assess the damage. _"Blaine,"_ he whined, petting the bare area. He sighed, nibbling his lip in thought for a moment, before pushing him down to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'm just going to have to do the whole lot," he grumbled, snatching the shaver from Blaine's clumsy hands and moving to kneel behind him on the bed.

Blaine kept quiet, twisting his hands in his lap. "I really am sorry," he murmured, before becoming momentarily distracted by a scar on the inside of Sebastian's thigh.  
"Cycling accident," Sebastian replied quietly, nodding to the mark. "And I'm totally not sorry for trying to get you-that's-currently-me off."

The other boy rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" After a pause, he continued, Sebastian leaning into his back as he worked over his head. "You're kind of naked."  
Sebastian snorted, and whacked his shoulder lightly. "Jesus, Anderson. It's not like you haven't seen it a hundred and one times before."

* * *

As the day progressed, things only went from bad to worse.

By second period, Blaine had had to cancel lacrosse practice just to dodge the incessant questions that he did not know the answer to; much to Sebastian's irritation.  
"We have finals in a week!" Sebastian hissed, when he found out, before turning on his heel and stomping off down the corridor. He slipped on the marble, stumbling forward a few steps before turning to glare at Blaine. "Why are your shoes so fucking polished? Are you training to be an ice skater?"

In the ten minutes between fourth period and lunch, Sebastian made two freshmen boys cry; which Blaine responded to by kicking him roughly in the shins.  
"They only wanted to know when Warbler rehearsals are, why can't you be civil?" Blaine snapped down at him.

If their friends noticed that something was off, they didn't comment - besides a truckload of jokes regarding Sebastian's hair, obviously.  
"You'll be able to run faster at the game next week!" Nick cried gleefully, Jeff letting out a bark where he was already in tears of laughter at his side.  
Sebastian threw down his fork with a grunt. "It's all Blaine's fault," he mumbled, before realising he'd essentially just blamed himself.

* * *

Blaine let out a sigh of exhaustion as he stepped into the room, hissing as he went walking straight into the wardrobe again. Given how his day had gone, Sebastian would be sporting a lovely big bruise along with his new haircut when he got his body back. _If_ he got his body back.

Sebastian was already there, laying across his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a frown.  
"No offense," Blaine started, throwing down his bag, and narrowly dodging the light. (Blaine - 1; the universe - 34,158) "But I hate being you."  
"None taken," Sebastian responded dismally. "The novelty of getting to stare at you naked wore of pretty quickly when it still ends in jerking off."

Blaine groaned, flopping down onto the end of Sebastian's - well, his - bed. "You didn't."  
Sebastian shrugged, a hint of a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I found the Ryan Gosling magazines under your bed. It was your body that got excited."

The other boy hit his leg playfully, blushing as he laughed softly. The sound faded from his lips, his expression turning pensive. "Bastian? What's happened to us?"  
"Fuck if I know," Sebastian sighed, before looking up at Blaine hopefully. "Can I go for a smoke?"  
"No," Blaine replied firmly. "You know I wouldn't let you even if you were in your own body. It's bad for your singing _and_ lacrosse."

Sebastian huffed, sitting up to nudge Blaine's side gently. "If that is what being married is like, I'm going to be a bachelor for the rest of my life, thank you very much."  
"Someone worrying about you?" Blaine clarified, smiling as leaned into Sebastian.  
He nodded, warm gaze fixed on Blaine.

Without thinking twice, Blaine leaned forward and pressed his lips to Sebastian's briefly. He quickly pulled back, eyes screwed shut. "Okay, no, that was weird."  
"Finally, Blaine Anderson wants to kiss me, and I get cockblocked by the fucking universe."

Blaine opened his eyes with a start - because that line hadn't come from his voice, but from... He squeaked, falling forward into Sebastian's arms and sending them both toppling from the bed. Sebastian blinked, opening and closing his mouth in shock.

"If you kiss me again, are we going to switch back?" Sebastian asked carefully, although he was already tugging the shorter boy closer, one hand hot against the back of Blaine's neck.  
"One way to find out," Blaine whispered, closing the gap between them and letting their lips slide together, for longer that time.  
Sebastian cracked one eye open, letting out a triumphant whoop to find the dark haired boy was still very much sprawled over the top of him.

He reached up to run a hand through his hair, groaning as he remembered, his palm coming into contact with the smooth fuzz that was left.  
"It'll grow back," Blaine reassured him gently, scrunching up his nose as he lay his own hand over Sebastian's. "Besides, I think it's kind of cute."  
Sebastian grunted, wrapping his arms tightly around Blaine's waist. "Well, you better, since it's your fault."

He paused, before grinning. "Now, it's not like I haven't touched your dick, Blaine, so really, you should just-_mmph."  
_Blaine cut him off with a kiss, laughing against his lips. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you set this whole thing up," he teased, bumping his nose against Sebastian's.  
"Please," Sebastian snorted. "If I had magical powers, I'd have gotten you into bed months ago."


	6. Serendipity

**prompt #6: in the library**

* * *

**serendipity** (noun)

_the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way_

Sebastian jolted awake at the sound of someone sniffling loudly next to him. He blinked slowly, raising his head from where it was crushing his hands; by then tingling from the pressure. He grimaced at the stale taste in his mouth, noting that the movie had rolled to an end.

"You did not fall asleep again!" Blaine whined, giving his side a mostly playful shove as he wiped at his eyes with the backs of his hands.  
Sebastian huffed softly, stretching his arms above his head as he yawned deeply. "Well, maybe if you stopped choosing chick flicks for our movie nights, then I'd stop falling asleep."

Blaine sighed loudly, his eyes taking on a wistful twinkle as tucked a stray curl behind his ear. "But this is a classic. And it's so _romantic."_ He turned to Sebastian with a dopey grin. "It's fate that they'll end up together. How could you sleep through that?"  
"Because I'm not a thirteen year old girl," Sebastian replied with a snarky grin, ducking off the bed just in time to avoid another blow to his side.

There was a pause as Sebastian rummaged through his closet of their shared Dalton dorm for a sweatshirt, tugging it over his head in one swift motion. Blaine, meanwhile, was tugging on a loose thread of the comforter, humming to himself softly.

Blaine was the one to break the silence, looking up at where Sebastian was patting down the unruly tufts of his hair that were sticking up wildly. "I believe in fate," Blaine murmured, his soft smile widening to a full-faced grin. "And I definitely believe that fate has a sense of humor, given that I ended up with you as my roommate."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, tossing an idle sock that was laying on the floor near him in Blaine's direction. "So, you're saying _fate_ brought you from your old school, and me from France, in order to ensure that we would meet?"  
"Well, maybe not quite like that, but sort of," Blaine grumbled, the curves of his cheekbones tinting a little pink.

Suddenly, Blaine jumped up, cutting off any additional sneering remarks from his friend. He darted over to their tiny little bookshelf, that was tucked into the corner of the room, housing half a dozen school books, aside from a few others belonging to the boys.

Sebastian watched him curiously as Blaine pulled out his copy of _Love in the Time of Cholera_ - a book that he knew for a fact the other boy had never gotten around to reading. He frowned as Blaine picked up a pen, opening the front page of the book to inscribe something within.

_Hang on._ "Oh, no. No, Blaine. Your life is not a movie, no matter how often you burst into song," Sebastian groaned, flopping down onto the end of his bed.  
Blaine shushed him firmly, not looking up from the book in his hands. He finished his writing with a flourish, blowing briefly on the ink to make sure it was dry before snapping the book shut. "Tomorrow, I will take this to a second hand book store. And maybe one day, you'll find it, and read my message."

"Or I could just read the message now," Sebastian suggested dryly, completely disinterested in Blaine's idealism.  
Blaine promptly ignored him, tucking the book into his satchel that sat by the door, and casting Sebastian one last look of warning that seemed to say: _touch it and die, Smythe.  
_"Dork," Sebastian mumbled under his breath, with a shake of his head.

Sebastian Smythe did not believe in fate. And that was not a view that would change.

* * *

Five years later, one a blustery day in November, Sebastian was trudging up the steps to the doors of the grand Columbia University library, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was in his first year of a postgraduate degree at the school and he had come to learn that that meant a lot of nights spend in that particular building.

He was exhausted. He'd been working solidly for the past three weeks to get the first draft of his project done and had reached that stage where the end was, frustratingly, just inching from his grasp.

He tugged off his scarf as he entered the building, quickly showing his I.D. before heading to his usual area of the library. It was like method to him, by then. Take out books. Take out laptop. Stack all on table. Set up a barrier around him so no one would disturb him. Start work. Pause and find glasses. Spend ten minutes digging glasses out of bag. Actually start working.

That particular evening, he had two books specifically that he needed to flip between for reference. He groaned in frustration as one of the books flopped back down against the table once again, vehemently refusing to prop upright as Sebastian needed it to.

He reached out behind himself blindly, grabbing the first book his hand came into contact with. He didn't even glance at the cover page of _Love in the Time of Cholera_ as he stacked it up behind his textbook, finally getting it settled into place.

In fact, it wasn't until the light had long, long since faded outside of the windows, sleet battering against the glass as Sebastian gathered his things together, that he noticed at all.

He picked the book up with two hands, lips twitching up fondly at the memory of that evening. The last time he'd seen Blaine Anderson was three and a half years ago, at the the Warblers' end of summer party.

Blaine had looked especially good that night. It was bittersweet, knowing that it was just as likely that they would stay friends as they would amicably part ways as friends that night. They stayed in touch for a month or two, as was typical. But soon the messages became fewer and further between.

It was nothing intentional, on either side. They had only ever just been friends - regardless of any feelings that Sebastian may or may not have harbored for the boy. Feelings he never quite felt he was in the right to express.

So, life got in the way, and the boys could do little to stop it.

And yet, here was fate, handing a book to Sebastian Smythe, some five years later than the first and only time he'd seen _Serendipity_ with possibly the most wistful boy he'd ever met.

"It's just a book," Sebastian whispered to himself, thumbs tracing the edges of the cover gently. He was not going to open it. He didn't need to open it. There would be nothing inside, besides the Columbia stamp and possibly a coffee mug ring or two.

Decisively, he tucked the book back into the shelf where he'd found it, letting out a breath when he'd done so. He threw his bag over his shoulder, storming towards the front door of the building.

Sebastian stood for a moment on the front step, watching the sleet-turned-rain lash down uninvitingly over the school's campus. It had been raining that night too: the night that Blaine had inscribed a message in the book. It hadn't mattered though, not when they were tucked up inside their dorm room with no wish or need to leave the comfort and warmth.

He couldn't explain why he went back; he wouldn't explain. But for whatever reason, he turned on his heel, dashing back through the library to the corner he'd previously been occupying. He knelt down next to the shelf, his bag falling to the fall with a thump as he pulled the book out.

With fumbling, shaking hands, he opened the front page of the book; nearly dropping it entirely as he looked down at the familiar handwriting. He hadn't seen it in years, of course, but it brought back so many memories. Memories of essays that were finished at three in the morning and handed in that same day. Memories of exam preparation and endless cups of coffee.

He tilted the book so as to be able to better read the message, smoothing the page down with his palm. He read it and re-read it over and over, eyes skipping over each individual word and letter, mouth turning dry.

_I think I might be in love with you.  
Yours, B._

Just two lines. Two lines that meant more to Sebastian than if he'd read an entire paper on the reasons why Blaine Anderson thought he might be in love with him, at some point in their lives.

He stood up, not loosening his tight grip on the book, committing the image to memory. But then the book really did go tumbling from his hands, falling to the floor with a soft thud, thanks to whomever had stumbled into his back.

Sebastian turned around to snap at them, freezing as he looked down at exactly the man that was then on his mind. He looked different, older, of course. His hair a little longer and significantly less styled, a shadow of stubble across his chin, his torso looking just a touch rounder than it had been in their teenage years.

"Blaine," Sebastian whispered, a grin splitting across his face.  
The other man smiled back speechlessly, hands flying around in aimless, uncoordinated gestures. "You wear glasses now?" he murmured finally, chuckling in disbelief.  
Sebastian shrugged, nodding as he touch the rim of the glasses still perched on the end of his nose. "You look.." he trailed off, almost blushing (except that Sebastian _never_ blushed) before he continued. "You look great."

Blaine bit down on his lower lip to try and stop his smile from stretching right off his face. He opened his mouth to say something, shutting it again as his gaze landed on the book abandoned on the floor. "Is that my book?" he asked quietly, ducking down to pick it up, and catching a glimpse of his own handwriting on the inside.

For a moment, neither man said anything, exchanging small, shy glances. The clock on the librarian's desk ticked rhythmically; the cough of someone from further within the library echoing towards them.

Sebastian took a breath before taking a step closer to Blaine, slipping his hands down over his arms until he could lace their fingers together. "I think am, too. I think I always have been."

And before he could even consider anything to add to that, he had two arms full of Blaine. Wild Blaine, always so full of life, so dynamic. Blaine whose lips were firmly attached to his with more energy than Sebastian was sure he had ever mustered in his life.

"Fate," Blaine squeaked happily when they broke apart, not moving further than to lean his forehead against Sebastian's, warm noses bumping softly.  
Sebastian snorted, resting his palms flat against the small of Blaine's back. "Dork."


	7. Status: Connected

**prompt #8:** nerd  
I've done a lot of 'typical' nerd! fics, so I went a little different for this. also, this would have been done hours ago if technology hadn't betrayed me and deleted most of my first draft so I had to re-write it. sighs.

* * *

Sebastian jerked awake at the sound of his phone buzzing persistently beneath the pillow, the noise cutting into his slumber. He tugged it out with a grunt, silencing it before his own alarm would follow up; the sound, no doubt, loud enough to wake up his parents down the hall. He squinted at the screen, bright in the darkness of the room. Five new messages from Blaine. As if he'd expect anything less.

_Time to wake up._

_Sebastian._

_SEBASTIAN._

_YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES AND YOUR LAPTOP NEEDS THREE OF THOSE JUST TO TURN ON._

_Why do I even bother?_

Sebastian chuckled softly, rubbing at his sleep filled eyes roughly before tapping off a quick reply to let him know he was awake. He reached out blindly, patting around the carpeted floor around his bed until he located his laptop, tugging it onto his lap.

He wasn't sure exactly when he'd become one of those people that woke up at three o'clock in the morning just to watch a new episode of _Glee_ on livestream. But Sebastian had come to the conclusion that it was best to blame Blaine for it - and he did, continuously, much to his friend's irritation.

It was alright for him, back in Ohio, where he could watch it at a regular time of night, on an actual television screen. It was Sebastian that got stuck with the crackling sound and jumpy picture of a stream that his internet connection could only just about cope with.

What got to Sebastian the most was that just two years before, he'd been living not only in the same country as Blaine, but the same state. But that had been several months before he'd even discovered _Glee_, let alone tumblr, or Blaine Anderson.

The Smythes' return to Paris had hardly been the 'wonderful opportunity' that his parents had promised him. While a part of him loathed the stale quality of life in Ohio, at least he'd had friends there. Paris was cold: unappealing and lonely, trapping him away from the rest of the world. All of his childhood friends from Paris had long since up and left themselves; or, at least, they were no longer in contact with him.

And just when Sebastian was sure that he was going to die from frustration or boredom, he'd stumbled into a world where people not only seemed to want to talk to him, but to befriend him. And then, there was Blaine.

Blaine, who had come careering into his ask box the previous summer, babbling semi-coherently about one of the key relationships in the show and didn't he think they'd done it well and _oh_ wasn't the season finale great and how excited was he for it to return and _I'm sorry if I'm coming on too strong, I do that sometimes but maybe-_ At which point he'd been unceremoniously cut off by the character limit and had apparently been, either, too distracted or too embarrassed to provide a follow up.

It had been endearing, to say the least, and without fully meaning to, Sebastian had found himself typing out a long, detailed reply, complete with emoticons, of all things. The awkward first stages of what would become a strong friendship flew past quickly; but it took several months of hitting the ask limit on each other's blogs and violently swearing at the character restrictions on Twitter, before Blaine tentatively asked if maybe he might like to exchange numbers or email addresses.

The first time they had Skype called one another, Sebastian had had to restrain himself from physically gawking at the screen, bearing in mind that Blaine could see him just as much as he could the other.

Up until that point, although it hadn't really occurred to him, Sebastian had never seen what Blaine looked like. While he posted the occasional photo onto his blog, never having had any kind of confidence issues over the way he looked, Blaine was more private in that respect.

Sebastian couldn't imagine, as he looked at him, that he could possibly have any self doubt over his looks - he was pretty much the most gorgeous boy he'd ever seen. Dark curls that sprung free and looped around his ears; bright eyes that sparkled when he spoke, and a laugh that made something twist warm and tight in Sebastian's chest.

So, maybe Sebastian had a tiny little crush on Blaine. But, as far as he was concerned, it was never going to become anything more than that. He had no interest in getting involved in some complicated long distance relationship with a boy who lived an ocean away, and probably wouldn't like him like that, anyway.

As their Skype conversations became more frequent, Sebastian began to pick up on a few regularities. Number one was that Blaine chewed on his lower lip a lot. It was highly distracting and that was all Sebastian would say on the matter.

Number two was that halfway through chattering about something or other, Blaine would often spring up in his seat, suddenly remembering something that he absolutely _had_ to show Sebastian, right away. Not that Sebastian was complaining since as well as being adorably charming, it usually gave him a rather fine view of Blaine's ass.

Finally, number three was that Blaine was talking more and more about some boy he'd met, who was apparently smart and funny and sweet and handsome, and _blah, blah, blah. _He supposed Blaine wanted advice from him, but mostly Sebastian just did his best to steer the conversation to another topic as quickly as possible.

Sebastian snapped back to the present as his laptop kicked into life; quickly clicking through to the link Blaine had found specially for him earlier.

_Ready with one minute to spare ;)_

* * *

Blaine shifted his food around the plate absentmindedly, glancing up at the clock on the wall behind his mother's head once again.  
"Somewhere you need to be, Blaine?" his mother asked curtly, one eyebrow raised in obvious disapproval.  
Dinner time was something of a ceremony in the Anderson household, wherein it was expected that all members of the family were present and attentive for at least a good half an hour.

He flushed, shaking his head. "Just lots of homework that needs to be done," he lied, hastily shoveling a forkful of mashed potato. "Great dinner, mom," he praised hopefully, jamming the food into his mouth and making sure to chew and swallow before continuing: "Really awesome." God forbid he should tempt the wrath that Cooper incurred whenever he spoke with his mouth full.

Cooper snorted, rolling his eyes. "He's just itching to get back to his imaginary boyfriend."  
Blaine's cheeks bloomed with a dark red blush, hand gripping his fork tightly. "First of all, he's just my friend and he's very much a real person, thank you very much."  
His elder brother just shrugged, pointing at him with his fork a little threateningly. "He still lives inside your computer."

Blaine narrowed his eyes, expertly flicking a pea at him with the tip of his fork. "Do you even understand how the internet works?"  
"Of course I understand how-" Cooper began, preparing to toss some potato right back when their father spoke up.

"Boys, cut it out," he said sharply, receiving a nod of approval from his wife before he returned to his steady silence at the head of the table.  
Mrs Anderson looked between the three men in her life with a quiet sigh, before plastering a wide smile on her face, filing away the mention of _boyfriend_ for later.

"Cooper, Blaine," she began, laying down her fork neatly. "Your father and I have been discussing it, and we think you two would be old enough to have your own vacation this New Year."

It was tradition in the Anderson family for them to take a vacation right after Christmas was over, to celebrate New Year's somewhere different. Often, they took the boys to small cabins tucked up in the Alps, with a warm fire and a supervised amount of champagne. But, the boys were getting older, and they'd decided it was time to let them have their own fun. All in all, they trusted them, knowing they were mature and responsible.

Minus the pea flinging, of course.

"Anywhere we want?" Cooper asked, his fork frozen midway to his mouth, as he glanced between his mom and his brother in shock.  
"Anywhere you want," she clarified.

"Paris!" Blaine yelled, at the same time as Cooper shouted "New York!"  
There was a pause as the two of them glared at each other, almost matching petulant expressions slipping onto their faces.  
"Blaine, New Year in New York is basically a bucket list moment, you can't tell me you don't want to do that," Cooper sighed, staring at him patronisingly.  
"And we will, one day," Blaine argued. "But, I just really want to go to Paris."

Cooper frowned at him for a moment, tilting his head in thought. "Oh my god, you just want to go to Paris because-"  
Blaine clapped a hand over his mouth roughly, flinching but not relinquishing when Cooper licked his palm in protest.  
"In Paris, you'll legally be able to drink," Blaine whispered from the corner of his mouth, Cooper's eyes lighting up as he remembered that his eighteenth birthday fell at the end of November.

He shoved Blaine off, nodding in agreement. "I think Paris would be very educational for us, mother."

* * *

"Is there a point to this, B?" Sebastian yawned teasingly, before chuckling at Blaine's guilty expression fondly, from the laptop screen. He was wearing a sweatshirt from his school, his hair stuck up on end a little where he'd been messing with it, glasses perched on the end of his nose.  
Blaine flushed, tucking his knees up to his chest as he broke off in his story about dinner time that night. He'd just been about to get to the bit with the pea and all.

"Right, so, long story short-"  
Sebastian snorted, but promptly after gestured for him to continue.  
Blaine glared at him, starting over. "Long story short, we're coming to Paris for New Year's. Me and Coop."  
Sebastian blinked at him a few times, before a wide grin spread across his face, slightly marred by the poor quality of his webcam.

Before he could reply, however, the door to Blaine's bedroom swung open, his mother appearing through it.  
"Oh," she said, looking between Blaine and the unknown boy on the laptop screen in confusion.  
"Mom," Blaine squeaked, flushing as bright red as if he'd just been caught watching porn, or something similar.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Anderson," Sebastian called out brightly, waving at her. "I'm Sebastian."  
"Likewise," she smiled stiffly, giving Blaine a pointed look.  
He swung around in his seat, mumbling a quick "I'll call you back later" before signing off.

Blaine's mom settled herself on the end of his bed, folding her hands in her lap before smiling at him. "Tell me everything."

* * *

In the end, Mrs Anderson had been surprisingly unconcerned by Blaine's international friend, and the fact that he was inadvertently going to visit him in a few short months. Blaine simply had to promise her contact details of Sebastian's parents, and that he'd take Cooper with him when they met up, and with that she'd been satisfied.

Although, afterwards, she had sent his father in to go through the sex talk again. That had been less fun.  
"Dad," Blaine had groaned, burying his face in his hands. "He's _not_ my boyfriend." _Even though I wish he was._ "We'll probably just sit and talk about _Glee_ or something."

Come the day of their arranged meeting, and Blaine was sure he would die from anticipation before he even made it there. If he ever made it there. _Note to self: don't ever trust Cooper with directions again._

* * *

Sebastian sat perched on the small space of cold, stone wall, shivering as he waited for Blaine to appear. The light had already faded some time ago: a curse of Paris in the wintertime. But that didn't mean it was in any way dark, the Eiffel Tower itself casting a glow across where he sat a short distance away, among others.

He glanced down at his watch, sighing under his breath, the heat of it coming out white in the frosty air. Blaine had once told him he was always five minutes early for everything, and yet it was forty minutes after their agreed meeting time, and the boy was nowhere to be seen.

_He's not coming._

Sebastian felt a snowflake hit his nose, squinting as they started fluttering down around him, sending a cool ripple down his spine. He stood up to leave, brushing any dirt from the back of his jeans and trying to ignore the stab of rejection that he felt deep in his gut. He tugged his beanie down further over his ears, turning around sharply at the sound of voices approaching.

"This is it! I told you I'd get you there!"  
"Yeah, nearly an hour late, he's probably already left. I can't believe you, Coop, you just had to screw this up for me, didn't you?"  
"Hey, now, little brother, I didn't mean to- _Blaine._"

Sebastian watched as a short figure came stomping in his direction, gaze cast down as he strode firmly away from the taller male who was calling after him. Blaine walked smack bang into Sebastian, starting as he looked up, his cold flushed cheeks hinting at a darker shade for a moment.

_"Je suis désolé, je.."_ Blaine fumbled, his eyes slowly adjusting to the glow of the fairy lights as he stared up at him. "Sebastian? Sebastian!"  
Before Sebastian could reply, Blaine jumped forward, hugging him tightly, both of them so wrapped up in layers that they could barely get their arms around each other.

"I thought you weren't coming," Sebastian murmured, when they broke apart.  
Blaine sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, it was all Cooper's fault, I swear," he grunted, gesturing to his brother behind who was already busy chatting up some French girl in an pathetic attempt at a British accent.  
He rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but be thankful that at least he was preoccupied.

The snowflakes were beginning to fall harder by then, swirling through the air and catching on eyelashes, noses, lips. Blaine took a breath, staring up at them for a moment before turning back to Sebastian. "I need to ask you something because I was thinking about it for the whole plane journey - and that's like eight hours, Seb - and I just really gotta ask."

Sebastian scrunched up his nose in amusement - it turned out Blaine's ramblings could get even cuter. "Ask away."  
"Can I kiss you?" Blaine blurted out, looking up at him with such hope in his eyes that there was no way Sebastian could ever have said no.

Just as he was leaning down, he paused, frowning slightly. "What about the boy you were telling me about? What happened to him?"  
Blaine chuckled, ducking his gaze before looking up at him through his eyelashes. "He was you."

"You asked me for advice on..myself," Sebastian sniggered, dropping his forehead to rest against Blaine's. "You really are the biggest dork I've ever met, Blaine Anderson."


	8. Third Time Lucky

**prompt #9: **cuddles

* * *

Blaine Anderson had always been the cuddling type. From long gone days of falling asleep against his father's chest as a toddler, or curling up into Cooper's side when they watched a movie; well into his adolescent years.

To be perfectly honest, he really couldn't understand any of the downsides that came with cuddling. Warmth? Check. Intimacy? Check. A sense of feeling wanted, or loved? Check!

Which is why, when Blaine began dating Sebastian in his junior year at Dalton, he couldn't seem to understand just why he struggled so much with getting him to _cuddle._

The first time he tried was a blustery evening in late November, the light having faded away hours ago, just a wall lamp casting a glow over the Smythe's living room.

Blaine pulled back with a breathy sigh, his lips as red and chapped as Sebastian's, who lay beneath him.  
"Get back here," Sebastian mumbled, grinning as he looped his hand around the back of Blaine's neck to draw him in again. He mouthed at his lower lip slowly, until Blaine was parting them to let Sebastian's tongue slip back into the wet heat of his mouth.

Sebastian's hand was hot against Blaine's lower back; the steady slick of their tongues meeting sending heat twisting and pooling low. Blaine reluctantly pulled away, again, his cheeks flushed.

"We should- We should slow down. Maybe," he murmured, thumbs tracing the curve of Sebastian's cheekbones.  
His boyfriend nodded, turning his head to brush a kiss to Blaine's palm. "Of course, babe. Whatever you want," he replied gently, the corners of his eyes crinkling up as he smiled.  
"We could watch a movie?" Blaine suggested brightly, smiling against Sebastian's lips as he answered with a short, sweet kiss.

He sat up and back against the couch as he waited for Sebastian to choose something from the shelf, holding it up for Blaine's approval before slipping it into the drive. He made his way back over to the couch, curling up in the corner, and casting Blaine nothing more than a brief smile.

Blaine faltered for a moment, before taking it upon himself to shuffle across the couch, leaning into Sebastian's side. The other boy looked at him before turning back to the screen, remaining stiff beside him. He just about let Blaine rest against him for the course of the movie, but he made no move as to embrace him, or draw him to his body.

_He's just nervous,_ Blaine decided, choosing to remain optimistic rather than to worry about why his boyfriend had gone from lusting and grabby, to acting like that in the space of a split second. _Give him time._

The next time, around Valentine's Day weekend, Sebastian had been given permission to stay the night at Blaine's.

Sebastian was already lounging in Blaine's bed, idly wiggling his toes against the covers as he waited for his boyfriend to come out of the bathroom. Blaine emerged a moment later, flicking off the light and padding across the carpet towards the bed.

There came a soft tap on the door, although the inquirer chose not to open it. "Goodnight boys," Blaine's mom called through the door quietly.  
"'Night," the boys chimed back in unison, chuckling for a moment at their synchronicity until they became far too distracted with Blaine falling into bed next to Sebastian.

"Hey," Sebastian murmured, arms looping around Blaine's waist as he tucked in, half at his side, half on top of him.  
"Hey yourself," Blaine whispered, giggling a little as he nudged his nose against Sebastian's.

Blaine was triumphant; euphoric even. _This is it! I knew it, no one can resist cuddling in a bed! _

But right when he'd been so sure he had him, Sebastian tilted his head up to press a lingering kiss to Blaine's lips, before promptly releasing him and shifting onto his side in the bed.

Blaine flopped back against the sheets, his jaw a little slack. His eyes roamed over the dim outline of his boyfriend's body, wondering whether he dared to just curl up around him, regardless of Sebastian's apparent distaste when it came to cuddling.

In the end, he decided it against it, a little too hurt to risk the humiliation of being rejected again. Rather, he just turned onto his own side, and tried to let the warmth of Sebastian's ankles tucked up with his be enough.

It was around May when the pair pushed down the last few barriers in their physical relationship, roaming hands getting full permission to explore, touch, tease as they wished to. But it wasn't until a hot day in July when Blaine felt that he'd truly succeeded with Sebastian Smythe.

Blaine panted harshly against Sebastian's neck, their torsos sticking together messily with a mixture of sweat and come. The fan in the corner of the room whirred helplessly, sending out a minimal breath of air over their flushed bodies.

Regardless of how unkempt he felt, Blaine was sated, pliant against Sebastian's body, that in turn was drowsy against the sheets from their physical exertions. He could feel Sebastian starting to shift beneath him, growing restless with being trapped.

But Blaine was having none of it. It was high time Sebastian learned how to cuddle; he was seventeen years old, after all.

Blaine hummed, slipping his legs around one of Sebastian's and locking his arms tightly around his waist. He felt Sebastian stiffen in confusion, or distaste, perhaps, his arms flailing uselessly at his sides.

"Blaine," he said finally, his warm breath fanning over his shoulder and raising goosebumps on his skin. "What are you doing?"  
"Cuddling," Blaine replied simply, closing his eyes with a wide smile.

Sebastian huffed, wriggling underneath him, his arms falling flat on top of the sheets. Blaine grumbled inwardly, but refused to admit defeat, forcibly grabbing Sebastian's arms and awkwardly wrapping them around his torso.

For a moment, his arms just lay limply over him, as Blaine adjusted back into his former position. Slowly, Sebastian began to settle, palms skimming over Blaine's ribcage as he hugged him to his chest.

"I suppose this isn't so bad," Sebastian mumbled after a while, his tone contemplative.  
Blaine could tell he was just moments from falling asleep; could feel his breathing evening out against him, and his arms growing pleasantly lax, caging him in. Just as he'd wanted.

Blaine chuckled, pressing a kiss to Sebastian's still slightly thrumming pulse point; his heart beat also reverberating against his chest rhythmically. "Good," he smiled. "Because we have a lot of cuddling to make up for."


	9. La Belle Ville de Paris

**Prompt #10: Paris**. Again, I went the non-conventional route.

* * *

Blaine looked up from his textbook, where he'd been idly doodling over the margins rather than reading the content for the better part of an hour, anyway. His roommate sat over by the window, perched on the ledge, his own textbook laying ignored on his lap.

It was both of their's favourite part of the room, the ledge wide enough to sit comfortably on, the view spanning across the entire grounds of Dalton. They were the only room on that floor to have a ledge like that, big enough for the both of them, in fact. They'd cushioned the hard wood out with a few blankets and cushions, and soon it was as much of a study spot as an observation point.

Blaine could tell Sebastian's mind was far from Middle Ages England, his hand lax where it lay curled loosely around his pen on the page. His forehead was pressed a little against the glass, a circle of condensation where his mouth was puffing out warm breath.

When Sebastian had first transferred to Dalton, at the start of that school year, Blaine had been more than a little intimidated. He was so cultured, so full of world experience that Blaine could only dream of one day getting.

Aside from being his roommate, Blaine shared several classes with Sebastian, and took it upon himself to be as welcoming and warm as they had been to him, when he'd first arrived. Sebastian had responded somewhat coolly, at first, but had gradually settled; his once frown around Blaine becoming a light, teasing grin.

He endured Sebastian's impossibly good Math skills where Blaine fumbled over equations and mixed his x's with his y's. He listened to him wax poetic about Fitzgerald with all the confidence of a college student, and speak French like someone who could seduce his way out a prison sentence.

Add to that how he'd step-touched and spun his way into the Warblers with such ease, quietly threatening Blaine's spot as lead soloist of the group, and frankly it was almost too much.

Beneath that exterior, that collected, perfected image, Blaine really did expect to find some kind of hurt, somewhere faded and resigned. He almost thought he'd found it, as Sebastian left time and time again to spend his Saturday nights out at the local gay bar, being bought an endless supply of drinks and usually getting sucked off in the bathrooms before he came back to Dalton tipsy and sated.

But when Blaine had approached the subject, with - unfortunately - about as much tact as a bulldozer, Sebastian had simply shrugged. _We all need to let loose once in a while, Blaine. Especially with a curriculum as tight as this._

Blaine closed his textbook with a sigh of defeat, sliding off the bed and padding across the carpeted floor to curl up on the other end of the window seat. "You okay?" He probed gently, nudging Sebastian's foot with his own. "You're very quiet."

Generally, when Sebastian was studying, it was accompanied with a certain amount of swearing, both in French and English, and the occasional wad of paper being thrown violently across the room.

Sebastian hummed, tilting his head around for a moment to look at Blaine. "I think it might snow," he murmured in reply, turning back towards the window. There was a pause, his eyebrows furrowing a little. "It's the first advent. I used to always spend them with my grandparents, at their apartment in the city."

And there, Blaine found the chink. Sebastian missed Paris, he missed his home, his family, and all that went along with it. He rarely spoke of it more than a place in which he once lived, of the lights and the life and the lilt of the street performers scattered along the streets.

But he knew that Sebastian had come to Dalton following his parents' wishes; their hope being that by finishing high school at one of the best private schools in America, he could then go on to study at an Ivy League school. Perhaps that was Sebastian's dream too; of that, Blaine wasn't sure.

Blaine glanced down, to where Sebastian had turned his attention to sketching something across the bottom of his textbook. Even from upside down, Blaine could tell it was the outline of Paris' skyline, the shape of the Eiffel Tower definite and clear.

And suddenly, Blaine had an idea.

Sebastian walked into his dorm room, shoulders aching from the satchel full of books he'd been carting around all day. He let it fall to the floor with a thump, stretching his arms above his head as his eyes fell on the note left on his bed. He shrugged off his blazer, tugging on a warmer sweater in its place before taking the note in hand.

_Follow the candles, to find la belle ville de Paris._

With a bemused sigh, Sebastian turned on his heel, opening his door to look outside. Halfway down the corridor, in the opposite direction to the one he'd come from, was a small candle. It was an electric one, fortunately, rather than a live flame; the battery powered flicker glowing at him enticingly.

He slipped the door shut behind him, the note still in his hand as he approached the candle. He picked it up, and moved forward to the corner of the hallway and- There. Another one.

So, it continued. He followed the pathways of Dalton, collecting the candles as he went - until which point that his hands became too full, and he consented himself to leaving them in a heap on a table in the left wing. He made a mental note to collect them later, lest he or the instigator of the little charade should get a lecture from a faculty member, otherwise.

The final candle led him up to the doorway to the drama department, a place he couldn't have stepped in more than once, during his orientation. He loved to perform, yes, but acting was less his forte, by far.

He tugged the sliding door open, letting it fall shut behind him as he stepped inside the dark room. Slowly, a thousand tiny lights began to flicker on, from the left hand side of the room around to the right. The room illuminated softly, casting a glow over, first, the pile of cushions arranged in the middle of the room, and then on, to the image on the far wall.

Sebastian let out a laugh of disbelief, his feet drawing him forward. It was Paris, his Paris - a video feed of some description, blown up across the wide wall. The lights of the city sparkled at him, twinkling familiarly.

There were footsteps from the corner of the room, and Blaine stepped into view, his cheeks flushed, a small grin on his face. "Surprise," he called out softly, gesturing around at the room. He crossed the space between them, Sebastian gazing down at him in a kind of awed shock. "Welcome home, Bastian."

Sebastian allowed himself to be led to the cushions, flopping down onto them as he turned his gaze back onto the image. "Blaine," he murmured finally, as the boy in question joined him on the floor. "This is incredible. I don't even know how to begin to thank you."

Blaine shook his head, smiling at him warmly. "No thanks necessary," he assured him, turning and rummaging behind him to pull out a box of macaroons. "They probably don't taste as good as the ones you're used to, but all the same."

The other boy chuckled, shifting to lay on his stomach on the cushions, still facing the video, before accepting a macaroon. Blaine copied his position, sneaking small glances at Sebastian, gauging his reaction.

On the screen, snowflakes began to swirl and fall, twisting through the air and merging with the lights. And right on cue came the snow in the department - snow that wasn't really snow at all but flakes of cotton that Blaine had painstakingly sent the past three days preparing.

Sebastian gawked as the first flake hit his head, laughing out loud and rolling over onto his back to gaze up at the snow storm above his head. "Why would you do all this? For me?" he asked quietly. He turned his head to frown at Blaine, who was then laying on his back, too, at his side.

Blaine opened his mouth as if to reply, before closing it again. In truth, he wasn't sure why he'd done it. He'd gotten the idea, and as he was prone to do, stuck with it vehemently. But every hour spent nearly slicing his fingers open with the craft knife, every second teetering on the ladder to set the projector up - all of it was worth it, for the look on Sebastian's face.

So, rather than reply, Blaine simply pushed forward, closing his eyes and gently pressing his lips to Sebastian's, just for a moment. Sebastian blinked a few times as he pulled back, before the corners of his eyes crinkled with his grin.

"Yeah," he whispered, finding Blaine's hand on the blanket and lacing their fingers together. "Me too."


	10. Let the Flames Consume Us

**prompt #11: apocalypse **(warnings for barebacking and rough sex)

* * *

It was the heat that woke Sebastian. You'd think he'd have been used to it by then - it had been that way for months, close to a year, in fact. And yet, just as with most mornings, it was the unpleasant stick of the rough sheets against his mostly bare skin, the pulse and throb of the stifling air around him, that rose him from his slumber.

Blaine was already awake, he noted, the moment he managed to drag his eyes open. He was kneeling by the window of their tiny little bunker, head propped up in his hands, eyes fixed on the world outside.

The enclosed space didn't help much with the heat, but they didn't have a choice. It protected them from the harmful rays of the sun, at least - and the gas, of course. The gas that forced them to keep even the windows drilled shut.

It was seven days since either of them had been outside.

Sebastian had heard stories about the effects of the gas; some choked, and that he could belief. It tasted acidic, filling up every sense until you were gagging, retching for some clean air.

Other stories, he was less sure about. He'd heard that it had changed people, made them delirious, made them wade through the waste, desert land, a fragment of a person. People were calling them the walkers, saying they were akin to the zombies of any novel from his childhood.

Neither he nor Blaine had seen any of them, and he was inclined to leave it labelled as a rumor, designed to invoke fear and terror. As if there wasn't enough of that around as it was.

Blaine turned as he pulled himself up from the bed, and Sebastian could see the sweat pooling in the collar underneath his loose shirt. Sebastian, himself, had given up on shirts three days previously.

"It's getting worse," Blaine murmured, his voice cracked from the heat. They had little water, so it was drunk sparingly, and infrequently.  
Sebastian nodded grimly, running a hand over his face.

Blaine's hazel eyes bored into his own for a moment, before he turned back, resting his head against the overheated glass. Sebastian would never forget the first time he saw those eyes - that boy, scrambling through what had once been Columbus, eyes marred with tears.

_"My family, I can't find-" he panted, fisting his hands in Sebastian's shirt. _"Please."

Sebastian couldn't possibly have said no; for one, he was dying for the company, everyone he'd once known long gone. Many had run for the north, not that it would help much. Others had passed in the first days of the heat.

And those eyes, begging him, pleading with him. He'd nodded, grabbing the boys hand to guide him towards his safe house at the time. He'd made a silent vow that day, to protect Blaine no matter what.

He stood up slowly, moving over to join Blaine by the window. Blaine had been right - it was definitely worse. The ground seemed to be steaming with the heat, lashes of red streaks the sky every few seconds. In the distance, he could make out dozens of spirals of deep, black smoke.

"It's going to be today, isn't it?" Blaine asked quietly.  
If Sebastian hadn't turned his head to look at him, he wouldn't have been able to tell that Blaine was crying, he was doing it so silently. But there were tear tracks down his face, the salty drops catching on the corners of his mouth.

Sebastian turned back to the window, a gnawing feeling tugging at his chest. "Maybe." A pause. "Probably."

Of all the things Sebastian could have expected to happen next, he couldn't have been prepared for Blaine grabbing him roughly by the neck and crashing their lips together. It wasn't the first time they'd kissed, but it had been months.

On one of Blaine's first nights with him, he'd been shaking violently in his sleep - nightmares, powerful ones. The only way Sebastian could find to calm him was to kiss him tenderly, starting at his forehead and moving down, until their lips were claiming each others hungrily.

They hadn't spoken about it the next day, or any other. But sometimes Sebastian caught Blaine staring at him, and he wondered if he thought about it as much as he did. Perhaps, then, the answer was yes.

Blaine pulled back, panting harshly, his eyes hooded. "If I'm going to die," he whispered, his breath ghosting over Sebastian's cracked lips. "Then I will die in your arms."

It was Sebastian that kissed him this time, pushing him down against the thin mattress on the floor, Blaine whimpering against his mouth. His hands were scrabbling against Sebastian's bare skin, fingernails leaving marks over his back, his sides. Sebastian pushed at the damp shirt clothing Blaine's slim body, helping him to slide it off before tossing it somewhere behind him.

The roof of their bunker cracked violently; the increasing pressure of the heat outside causing it to bend. But neither of the boys heard, too invested in the press of their chests together, tongues meeting in a slick, messy rush.

It should have been too much; it was already too hot, and they were both sweating within moments. But it didn't matter, it was too late to worry about such things. It was about the moment, because the moment was all they had left.

Blaine grabbed Sebastian's hips suddenly, pulling them down against his. With only boxers on both of them, the thin material left little to the imagination by the way of where they were both already achingly hard.

"Tell me," Sebastian murmured against his mouth, sucking on his lower lip harshly before tearing his mouth away.  
Blaine whimpered at the loss, his eyes dark, pupils blown as he gazed up at Sebastian.  
"Tell me what you want," Sebastian reiterated, punctuating his request by grinding his hips down in a tight circle.  
Blaine whined, his eyes rolling back into his head for a moment. "Fuck me, I need you to hurry up and _fuck_ me."

Sebastian cursed loudly, the sound ricocheting around the walls of the bunker. He tore at Blaine's underwear first, and then his own, a guttural growl leaving his throat as the other boy's cock bobbed up hard and leaking against his stomach.

"It's gonna be rough," he mumbled, leaning down to kiss him, tenderly that time. "I don't have anything."  
Blaine nodded, spreading his legs wide to accommodate Sebastian between them. "Don't care, I need you, Bastian."

Sebastian let out a shaky breath, moving down Blaine's body. He sucked on his pointer finger as best as he could; even the inside of his mouth was drier than he was used to. He pressed a hand to Blaine's thigh, spreading his open as best as he could, before nudging the tip of his finger against him.

Blaine hissed, pushing his hips up to meet the intrusion nevertheless. Sebastian slid his tongue out to lap around where his finger was pressing, and slowly eased it in. He pumped it slowly, pressing his mouth against Blaine's thigh, panting roughly.

"More," Blaine mumbled, his hips shaking as he held them up for Sebastian.  
Sebastian keened, pulling his hand free to suck around two fingers, tasting traces of Blaine along the first. He pushed them back in bit by bit, watching Blaine give and take around them.

Blaine howled when he crooked them slowly, pushing down roughly against them, his hands digging into the floor below. Sebastian looked up, taking in how wrecked he looked. Curls springing free, a ghost of stubble across the chin where he'd given up trying to shave with their one rusty razor, the muscles in his stomach jumping.

Sebastian managed to slip a third finger inside, pumping them steadily as he worked his own hips down against Blaine's thigh, craving some kind of friction. Blaine, below him, seemed to be past words, moaning brokenly as he fisted his hands in Sebastian's hair.

He scrambled up to press his lips to Blaine's again, licking at the seam of his lips and into his mouth desperately, taking a firm hold on his hips. He felt Blaine's breath hitch as he nudged the head of his cock against him, his body slowly relaxing enough for him to be able to push in.

He bottomed out before letting out the breath he, himself, had been holding - and it was Blaine nudging his own hips up that got him moving. He rocked into him steadily, the clench of Blaine around him making heat pool up thick and fast.

He dragged his cock out slickly, before slamming back in, Blaine's head thumping down against the floor as he groaned out. He grabbed at Sebastian's biceps, working his hips down without rhythm or finesse against his cock.

"Close?" Sebastian asked brokenly, barely hearing himself talk over the obscene slap of their hips meeting, the sound echoing around the bunker and back down.  
Blaine nodded, and it only took half a dozen strokes of Sebastian's hand around his cock before he was shooting across his chest and over his fist.

Blaine eyelids were heavy, his body flushed all the way down as he kept clinging to Sebastian. He didn't even need to say anything, just the squeeze of his hands on the taller boy's biceps had Sebastian spilling into him.

They came down slowly, the sweat not getting a chance to cool on their bodies with the stifling heat that was filtering in from outside. There came a crash from nearby, distracting Sebastian from where he had been searching for something to clean them up with.

He shushed Blaine gently, wiping them off with the sheet from his own mattress before collapsing down at his side. He ran his fingers over Blaine's side, humming softly.

"Don't be scared," he murmured, as Blaine stiffened at the next bang.  
There was a pause before he shook his head. "I'm not. Not so long as I'm with you."  
Sebastian propped himself up onto his elbows to gaze down at him, unsaid words lingering on the tip of his tongue.

"Thank you," Blaine whispered, his eyes filling with tears as he reached up to cup Sebastian's cheek in his palm.  
And before Sebastian could reply, the world went white around them.


	11. Nightbird and the Civilian

**prompt #12: halloween**

* * *

Sebastian cocked his head at the rush of air that whizzed past him again, accompanied by the patter of Blaine's feet as they moved from the wooden table back down to the carpeted floor. Most of the other boys were too distracted by the ending to the last in their stack of horror movies - something else with far too much fake blood and irritatingly high pitched screaming for Sebastian's taste.

Similarly, most of the boys had crashed from the peak of their sugar high; a direct result of the ridiculous amount of candy they'd managed to collect as they made their way around Westerville in their costumes before returning to Dalton.

Most of the boys, however, did not include Blaine.

Blaine who had been playing hot lava with himself for the past twenty minutes without pause, even when his feet got tangled in the cape of his self-invented superhero costume.

"Blaine," Sebastian called out, as the boy in question hopped up onto the couch at the other end of the room from the table, swooping his cape behind him dramatically.  
He didn't respond, didn't so much as lift his head in Sebastian's direction.  
The taller boy sighed, sitting up a little straighter before trying again. "Nightbird."

Blaine made a bizarre squawking noise and came hurtling over to him, via the furniture, of course. "Nightbird at your service," he beamed, ducking down to look him in the eye.  
Sebastian rolled his eyes, and effectively dodged the blow to his head from his friend that he had been expecting from that reaction.

He cleared his throat, smoothing his hair back before turning his gaze back to Blaine. "Are you going to stop jumping over stuff before you hurt yourself?"  
Blaine threw back his head and laughed, in a way that seemed far more evil villain than superhero, if you asked Sebastian. "I'll stop once I get to one hundred circuits," he replied finally, standing up again to continue in his quest.

Sebastian sighed, letting his head fall back against the couch behind him with a soft thump.  
Jeff looked up at the sound, giving him a sympathetic half smile. "You worry about him too much."  
"Someone has to," Sebastian muttered in response, his eyes following Blaine as he twirled onto the couch next to the window.

Blaine and Sebastian had transferred to Dalton around the same time; the former from some public school he didn't speak much of, and himself from Paris, when his family had relocated back to the States. Sebastian wasn't much used to people warming to him easily, but for whatever reason, Blaine spent the first few months being inexplicably shy with everyone _except_ him.

They'd made the joint decision to join the Warblers, who had gone on to earn Blaine's trust by throwing him a modestly impressive fifteenth birthday party that spread out across half the school and most of the grounds (much to the other students' confusion).

Even before Blaine had begun to open up on some of the details of his old school, Sebastian had felt this urge to protect him, for reasons he couldn't explain. The Sebastian he'd been in Paris had been suave, confident, smooth. That Sebastian did not get crushes on boys who spent their Halloween night running over furniture in a handmade costume.

And yet, he'd long since given up trying to deny to himself how he felt about Blaine. How Blaine's laugh made his heart melt; how when he performed, Sebastian's stomach fluttered; how just the brush of their hands could have him aching to hold him, to touch him, to kiss him.

Old Sebastian would have grabbed him and kissed him by now, not just content himself to sit and watch as Blaine flitted around his life like he did. He supposed what prevented him was that Blaine was the best kind of friend he'd ever had, and that wasn't something he was willing to risk should any romantic gesture backfire.

Sebastian was pulled from his thoughts as Blaine stumbled a little again, a few of the other boys glancing over too. "Right, that's it," he declared, standing up and marching over to Blaine, who was focusing on his balance as he perched on the arm of the couch on one leg. He squeaked as Sebastian hooked an arm around Blaine's waist; and thank god for lacrosse, for he was able to quite easily throw the smaller boy over his shoulder, holding onto his knees securely.

"Bastian!" Blaine protested, wriggling his legs lamely in Sebastian's firm grasp. "Put me down right now! Nightbird commands it."  
"Yeah, yeah," Sebastian mumbled, gritting his teeth as he gave a quick wave to the other boys, who simply smiled on in amusement.

Sebastian only consented to putting Blaine down once they were out in the corridor; mostly because there was no way he was carrying him all the way back to his dorm with him beating at his back like a baby gorilla.

Blaine let out a noise of triumph and went fleeing down the dimly lit hallway, disappearing around the corner with a swoosh of fabric. But where Blaine had endless amounts of energy, Sebastian had long legs, and he easily caught up to him at the steps that led up to the dorm rooms.

They exchanged a smile, walking in a comfortable silence the rest of the way to his room, Blaine picking at where the collar of his cape was digging into his neck a little.  
"I still can't believe you didn't dress up," Blaine mused finally, giving Sebastian an unimpressed look.  
"I dressed as myself," Sebastian replied calmly.

Blaine huffed, drawing to a stop as they reached his room. "That doesn't count and you know it."  
Sebastian raised an eyebrow, smirking as he leaned into the door frame. "Do I?"  
The other boy just hummed, his amber eyes sparkling as they looked up at him.

_If there was ever a moment..._

Without giving himself a chance to second guess himself, Sebastian leaned down and pressed his lips to Blaine's. It lasted maybe just a moment, Blaine letting out a soft noise of surprise at the touch, warm skin tasting slowly before it was over.

"Goodnight, Sebastian," Blaine whispered, his voice breathless like the air was stuck in his throat.  
Sebastian's heart skittered at the tone of it, watching Blaine move to open the door. "Goodnight, Blaine."

* * *

The other boys were already eating by the time Blaine made it to breakfast the next morning, selecting just an apple and a pastry before moving to sit with his friends. He settled in beside Sebastian, a hint of a flush at the back of his neck before he leaned over to drop a kiss to the taller boy's cheek.

Sebastian nearly dropped his spoon, a bit of milk dribbling down his chin as he missed the mouthful he'd been going for. He turned to look at Blaine, whose gaze was fixed on the table, a small smile playing on his lips, as he unwrapped his pastry.

He was too distracted by Blaine to notice the looks the other boys were exchanging, thus startling the both of them when, in unison, they declared loudly to the entire cafeteria: "boyfriends!"


	12. Practice Makes Perfect

**prompt#13: first kiss**

* * *

Sebastian looked up as Blaine walked into their shared dorm room, his cheeks pink from the November chill he'd just come in from - or maybe from the date with some sophomore on the debate team that he'd been on that evening.

Not that Sebastian cared either way, obviously.

* * *

Blaine offered up a small smile as he moved around the room, shedding his layers in response to the enveloping warmth that was starting to sink into his bones. It hadn't exactly been what Blaine would have pictured when he'd envisioned his first date.

The movie had been dull; and Tyler, the cute sophomore who had approached him earlier in the week with a grin and a wink in his direction that had made his stomach do a somersault, even more so.

They'd both lost interest in the movie pretty early on, and Tyler had busied himself with tiptoeing his hand up over Blaine's thigh - presumably in the hopes that he'd reciprocate.

And then there had been the _kissing._ Blaine had never done the..kissing thing before; and call him a romantic, but he'd always thought his first would be a memorable moment. Maybe not because of the location, but at least memorable in the sense that it would make him feel something.

But he hadn't felt anything - and Blaine couldn't help but wonder as Tyler walked him back up to the freshmen dorms what the whole fuss was about kissing anyway.

"I can't decide whether to take your silence as a good thing or a bad thing," Sebastian said finally, setting aside his math books with a disinterested grunt in their direction, before turning back to his roommate. "Either, it was so good that now you're reliving every detail in your mind as material for getting off in the shower later. Or, it was so bad that you've been scarred for life and will never speak again."

Blaine huffed, rolling his eyes as he tugged off his sweater and folded it neatly away into the top shelf of their shared closet. "Why do the options always have to be so dramatic?" He moved to sit down on the edge of his bed, facing Sebastian, resting his elbows on his knees and propping his head up in his hands. "It wasn't great," he admitted finally.

Sebastian let out a sympathetic murmur, twisting his body around to Blaine in case he chose to elaborate any further.  
"He kissed me," Blaine added, the tips of his cheekbones tinging red again.  
The corner of Sebastian's mouth turned down for half a second before his face returned to a more passive expression. "How was it?"

Blaine considered this for a moment before giggling. "Really pretty bad," he mumbled, shaking his head a little. "It was okay at first, I guess. His lips were quite soft, anyway. But then he put his tongue in my mouth and it was just.." Blaine trailed off, making a noise of disgust.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "That's what you're supposed to do, you know."  
"No, I know that!" Blaine protested. "But it just wasn't pleasant, at all. He just kind of shoved it in and wiggled it around a lot. It sort of felt like he was performing a dentistry examination but with his tongue. Is it supposed to feel like _that?"_

The taller boy shrugged, toying with a loose thread on the edge of his pillowcase. "He was probably just bad at it."  
Blaine nodded slowly, before frowning, his eyebrows crinkling together. "What if it was me? What if I'm bad at it?"

Sebastian didn't reply, a poignant silence falling between them for a moment before Blaine spoke up again.  
"Do you think maybe we could.. Practice? So we know what we're doing when we go out on dates and stuff?"  
Sebastian's head snapped up at that, his throat bobbing as he swallowed roughly. "Like..now?"

Blaine stammered, his heart rate picking up a little. "I mean, only if you wanted to."  
"I want to," Sebastian blurted out, his gaze zeroing in on where Blaine was nibbling at his lower lip hesitantly. "Come here," he whispered.

The other boy slipped off the edge of his bed, moving to kneel on Sebastian's instead, hovering over him uncertainly. He leaned down of his own accord, though, brushing his lips over Sebastian's dryly before pressing down more firmly.

Sebastian let out a soft noise against his lips, his arms wrapping around Blaine's body and tugging him down against his own. The action caused Blaine to draw his mouth away, much to Sebastian's disappointment.

"What? Was it bad?"  
Sebastian shook his head furiously, before a flush starting working it's way up his neck. "I think it was good. But.. I wouldn't actually, uh, know. That was my first kiss."

Blaine started, looking down at him in confusion. "But you're always talking about all the boys back in Paris?"  
"I lied," Sebastian mumbled, dropping his gaze. "I wanted people here to think I was experienced and mature and stuff, so they'd like me. Especially you."

"Especially me?" Blaine echoed, already leaning back down, his hands holding onto Sebastian's shoulders tightly.  
Sebastian nodded, his lips ready when Blaine met them, less tentatively than before.

And then things got a little messy. Blaine pressed his tongue forward how Tyler had done to him earlier, feeling Sebastian's lips part for him slowly. Their tongues fumbled clumsily, their teeth clacked together, their noses bumping frustratingly.

But when Blaine tried to pull back, Sebastian wouldn't let him, keeping a firm hold on his body. As they let themselves relax into it, the mess of tongues and teeth became a more rhythmic give and take.

As he sucked Sebastian's tongue into his mouth almost desperately, Blaine finally understood what the point of kissing was. Because that felt good, the heat and beat of Sebastian's body next to his felt _good._

So good, in fact, that he could feel the blood starting to rush south, his jeans becoming a little tighter. Blaine pulled back sharply, scrambling backwards until he ended up sprawled in a heap on the bed, a little way back from Sebastian.

"That was good," he mumbled, surreptitiously trying to fold his hands in front of his lap.  
Sebastian nodded, clearing his throat. "Yeah. That was good." He tugged at the front of his own pants, shifting around on the bed.

"We should watch a movie or something," he suggested, his voice just a notch louder than usual, as if to clear the moment that had just happened between them.  
"Yes!" Blaine squeaked, stumbling up from the bed. "A movie. Great idea."

And if Blaine ended up curling up into Sebastian's side as they watched, with their socked feet tangled together, and their hearts still beating a little out of time? Well, it was just practice, after all.


End file.
